Walks in the Forest and Birthday Surprises
by Joeygirl1994
Summary: Victoire and Teddy take a walk through the forest on the day of her seventeenth birthday. Victoire spends the entire walk trying not to act like an idiot in front of her best friend turned secret crush and Teddy's oblivious flirting doesn't help her or her insane mind-wanderings. It's cute, funny, and a one-shot. Comes after my other one-shot Lunch dates and Sneak-o-scopes.


**A/N:** This is a Teddy/Vic one-shot based on my (much, much, larger) on going Teddy/Vic story **Try and Tri Again**.

IF YOU HAVE NOT READ **TRY TRI AGAIN**, YOU DO _NOT_ NEED TO TO UNDERSTAND THIS ONE-SHOT.

However, if you like this one-shot and want to read **Try Tri Again** feel free, you can find it in a link on my profile, or you could just search it. It's one of the longest Teddy/Vic stories on here but I promise it's really good.

If you wanted to understand this one-shot a bit more and you haven't read **Try and Tri Again**, feel free to read my other one-shot based off the story that, chronologically happens before this one, it's called **Lunch-dates and Sneak-o-scopes**, and it might help you understand a bit of my characterization better, but you don't necessarily have to read it.

For those of you who are reading **Try Tri Again**, please enjoy, and you will all understand that this one-shot takes place before the events in **Try Tri** Again, and again, this is a huge thank-you for you guys waiting so patiently since my last update :) Thank you, and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything!

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**Walks in the Forest and Birthday Surprises**

"C'mon Vic, keep walking, the Burrow's only a little farther . . ."

I rolled my eyes in irritation at the cheery and optimistic voice he used. Under any other circumstances, I would absolutely love to be walking in the forest around my grandparents' home as we were now. Ever since I was a child, my cousins, friends, and I would run off into these woods and play games and make-believe. My favourite game was always the one where we would pretend to be Auros and that we were on a secret mission to save the Wizarding world. We would load my little hot pink and baby blue coloured knapsack up with our 'gadgets' (toys, and usually things from Uncle George's shop: _Weasley's Wizard Wheezes_) and we would run around the forest. We would jump over fallen logs, hide behind rocks and bushes, and climb trees until we completed our mission. For some reason, being out in the forest right now, I felt like we were back playing one of our games, but one that I definitely didn't know all the rules to.

"Really Vic it's not that far . . . a kilometre tops."

I bit my tongue to hold back a sarcastic comment. It felt like our walk into the woods had covered much more ground than that, and since we had only turned back a kilometre ago, -only after I had stopped where I was and claimed that I wasn't moving any further forward and that he couldn't make me- I could tell that we had much more ground to cover than a kilometre until we were back at my Grandma Molly and my Grandpa Arthur's, home the Burrow.

"Listen grouchy pants if you don't put a smile on that pretty little face of yours, I'm going to have to cast a cheering charm on you."

That comment actually elicited a small grin from me as we walked through the woods. However, it quickly faded when I felt my eyes trying to move from my feet -where I'd been attempting to glue my gaze for our entire stroll- to his face. I stopped my eyes from looking at him and was immediately at war with myself. One side of me said that my interest in looking at his face was just so that I could study his expression and see if he really was serious about casting a spell on me. While the other side told me to get real and that the only reason why I wanted to look at his face was because I wanted to stare at his gorgeous features.

I don't want to pick favourites or anything, but I kinda thought my second side was more correct . . . or at least more honest about my real intentions than my first side.

My internal ramblings with my multiple personalities was cut off by an exasperated sigh from my walking companion. Before I could raise my head up to actually look at him, I suddenly felt myself being hit by something solid and then, consequently, quickly falling backward onto the forest floor. I let out a little groan as I simultaneously became pinned under the strong weight of his body.

Even though the earth was spongy and still slightly damp from the dew earlier in the morning, my fall was much softer than it should have. I let my head snap back and touch the ground. The ground bounced up and made my head move forward before it fell back down to lay on a pile of greenery, my long silvery-blonde hair fanning out around me and shimmering in the afternoon June sun. The odd movement of my head proved my suspicion that he had put a silent and wandless cushioning charm on the ground before tackling me.

"Look at me Vic," he commanded quietly.

My eyes widened as I looked sideways at the dandelion to the right of my head. I couldn't look at him. If I looked at him, I know that I would spill absolutely everything thought I've had that I've kept to myself in the past few weeks. This would be rather bad because I have been kinda, maybe, just a little . . . completely obsessed with him for about two months now, and I definitely know that he won't see it coming if I just up and spilled my guts to him right now.

Again, while I struggled and rambled internally with myself, Teddy decided to take the direct approach and gently grabbed my chin with his hand, forcing me to look at him. The first thing I did when I laid eyes on him was curse the quiet and stillness of the forest. The sound of my heart picked up pace as I took in his handsome, pale and chiselled face; he was definitely going to hear my newly erratic heartbeat sooner rather than later at the rate it was beating.

As if he could hear my internal musing, his dark sapphire blue eyes twinkled playfully and his soft looking lips pulled up into a breathtaking smirk.

He shook his head lightly before speaking; flipping his turquoise blue fringe out of his eyes, "Vic, aren't you going to say something?"

I shook my head. I was literally biting my bottom lip as to stop myself from blurting out how much I fancied him.

Teddy sighed softly while the hand that was holding my chin moved to gently stroke my cheek. I immediately felt my face flush. It wasn't something I was use too; usually my mother's Veela blood stopped me from blushing. However, it seemed today that the Weasley blood from my father's genes was going to cause me to not only turn bright red, but to blush even more from embarrassment of blushing. Yeah, I know that's a lot to get your head around, but I'm used to my genetics being odd.

Teddy sighed, "C'mon Victoire, it's your seventeenth birthday. Don't be a grumpy pants."

I had to giggle a little at the second mention of that expression. I mean c'mon, who actually says 'grumpy pants' now-a-days more than once in a conversation?

He must have gotten some sort of encouragement out of getting a positive response from me because he gave me a huge blinding grin before getting off of me and to his feet.

Even though Teddy Lupin can be a Prat sometimes -namely when he's unconsciously got me completely enthralled with him and doesn't know it- he can be a real gentleman. Ergo, after getting to his own feet he moved his hand out to help me up. When he decided that I wasn't moving fast enough for him however, he added his other hand, and pulled me up off the ground and into his strong embrace.

Being encased in his arms made me blush again.

Great, not only am I at a complete loss for words around him, but my Veela genes are failing me too. It is official, I, Victoire Appoline Weasley, have peaked at the ripe old age of seventeen. Merlin and Godric Gryffindor help me. If I get out of this situation, he's never going to let me live it down all of the blushing. Of course, that's if he realizes that he's the reason that I'm acting the way I am.

I came back to reality when he released me from his arms and took a step back from me. He seemed to be studying me as he tried to decide something.

"Fine Vic. You win," he said finally as he sighed and ran a hand through his already messy turquoise blue hair.

Yes! I win! Hear that? I haven't lost my touch after all! Wait . . . what was I arguing about again?

"What did I win Teddy?" I asked, blurting out my confusion.

Okay, I guess I don't have it back, and now even the part of my brain where I think things through before speaking isn't working. Although, that _could_ be a hereditary trait; neither Uncle Ron nor Uncle Charlie seem to be able to think things through before speaking. This could totally be a natural progression for a Weasley such as myself as I get older . . . and if that's the case . . . Holy Helga Hufflepuff help me please!

(I thought that since Merlin and Godric didn't seem to be listening to me, I'd invoke my cousin Baxter's favourite idiom and see if she'd take pity on me even if I'm not in her house at Hogwarts.)

Teddy gave me a weird look -I'd been getting a lot of those from his since I hit this one-sided and awkward 'I-really-really-really-fancy-you-but-sadly-that-makes-me-act-like-an-idiot-around-you-now' stage with him- and he made sure to speak his next words slowly as if he was questioning my intelligence. This, for the record, really bugs me seeing as I'm getting the exact same marks on my O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s as he did.

"I'm not going to make you walk anymore."

For the first time since I came out to the forest with him a huge and genuine smile overcame my face, "Really? So you'll let us _Apparate_ back?"

It _is _my seventeenth birthday today, and I did already go for, and _pass_, my _Apparation_ test this morning.

Teddy shook his head slowly at me; his blue eyes were sparkling mischievously. And, because I've known and been best friends with him since I was born, I could tell by the look on his face that his next words weren't going to be good.

"No, we're not going to _Apparate_ back. Since you're tired and I'm not, I'll carry you back."

Oh. My. Godric. He did not just say what I think he said.

"What?"

He rolled his eyes at me, obviously thinking that I was being rather slow today. Which, admittedly, I was. But hey, it's my birthday; so sue me.

"I said I'll carry you back. It's only a couple hectometres. So what'll it be, bridal style or piggy back?"

Oh, my Merlin he did say what I thought he said. Godric, I can't take him up on his offer. My face will be permanently stained red if I do. But I can't just say that I'll walk the rest of the way, not after the scene I just put on a few minutes ago. Damn me, and my Weasley and Veela blood! Why do I have to be such a drama queen? WHY!?

"Um, seriously Teddy, you don't have too . . . I rather enjoy complaining and blaming you every five minutes," I told his seriously. Yes! That sounded much more like the normal me. I thought that I'd lost my entire ability to sound like a normal person around him. Good to know that I've got some sort or 'normal smart-arse comments' reserve for times like this when I'm going through a metal and verbal drought.

"Nope. It's your birthday and I must do as the birthday girl pleases. So, I'm gonna carry you, and you're going to enjoy it, got it?"

He punctuated his question with such a sexy smirk that it made my mind literally go blank for a minute. All I could do was nod, even though I couldn't exactly remember why I was supposed to be nodding in the first place. In fact, all I know right now can be complied into a very short list of two things: one; that the metal and verbal drought of mine seems to be continuing and it's rather annoying because even though I'm not a Ravenclaw like my cousin Lucy, I usually pride myself on my witty comebacks. And two; did Teddy Lupin actually just say that since it was my birthday he must do everything I say? How dedicated to this statement do you think he is? Because right now I could think of several things I'd like him to do . . . specifically with me.

"Excellent," he announced making me jump a little and blush when I realized that the daydreams I'd slipped into were vastly different and contracting from the conversation that I was presently having with him.

"So which way will it be? Piggyback or bridal style?"

I squeaked out something that was entirely unintelligible to my own ears, but somehow he was able to understand what I said because his dazzling smile didn't move from his face, and he nodded at me as if he'd expected that it would be my answer. At least one of us knew what we were talking about.

He turned around and bent down a bit and that's when I realized that the words I squeaked out to him must have been 'piggyback' because he seemed to be gesturing for me to climb onto him back. I did so, wrapping my legs around his waist and my arms around his neck in the process. I was at the perfect level to place my head on his shoulder and if I moved it a little to the left it would be in the crook of his neck.

In summary, was immensely happy with the position that I picked. I could stare at him –well the back of his head and the side of his face- and he wouldn't be able to tell. Most importantly he wouldn't be able to see the blush on my face when my mind wandered into territories that it probably shouldn't seeing as my attraction to him was much too strong, and way too one-sided to be healthy.

He had begun walking with me on his back, and had been walking for several minutes before I realized that he'd actually started moving. My mind was too busy staring at his soft-looking blue hair and wondering what it would be like to be able to run my fingers through it. Which, of course, made me in turn wonder what his hair would feel like in my fingers if I tugged on it while we were in the middle of a passionate kiss . . . and well, I'll spare you the other details that my mind began to wonder about in every if/what situation that a newly seventeen-year-old girl's mind could conjure up about the boy she fancied.

Again, he seemed to be interested in filling the quiet of the forest with discussion, and, for some reason, he was still thinking that I'd be able to answer without sounding like an idiot. Granted, he didn't know how hard of a time I was having being my normal self, but it would be a lot easier if he weren't trying to be such an adorable and charming man. Godric why did he have to be so perfect?

"Are you excited about your party with your friends this weekend?" Teddy asked me as we (mainly him, since he was the one actually walking) followed the slight bend in the forest's path.

My running score for saying something intelligent today was rather lower than I'd hoped it would be when we started out our adventure. But since I didn't have to stare at his gorgeous face as I answered –something that admittedly was one of the contributing factors to why I always sounded like such a prat when I was around him- I was able to say something back that sounded somewhat normal.

"Yeah, it should be fun. You are coming right?" As soon as the words were out of my mouth I wanted to retract them. Damn. How come one of the only times I answer in a complete sentence today, it makes me sound like some obsessive harpy?

Luckily, if Teddy had caught a touch of 'creep-wishing-she-was-girlfriend-elect' coming off of my statement he didn't say anything. He actually chuckled. It was quiet, but I could hear his deep voice, and, more importantly, I could feel the slight vibration through his back from the laughter in his chest. It was so adorable that I found myself almost slipping into a daydream about what it would feel like to have my head on his chest as he laughed again at something that I said –something that would no doubt be incredibly witty by the by.

"Of course I'm coming Vic. I'll be a little late because I've got work, but I will be there. I'd never miss an opportunity to spend time with you," he began sweetly.

My heart was beating so fast and so loud at that part of his answer that I barely caught the end of it, "You are my best friend after all. What kind of best friend would I be if I missed your birthday party?"

I wanted to curl up and cry –figuratively- when he said that.

No, wait . . .

I retract that statement, if he hadn't been carrying me I would have literally curled up on the forest floor and cried.

I hate that those two words were put together like that. I don't want to be his best friend. Sure, the past sixteen years of my life I was fine with the title. Elated even when he would come to me with his problems instead of others. But I don't want to be his best friend anymore. I want to be his girlfriend. Key part of that statement; _girl_friend. Meaning, I want to not only be the person he spends his free time with (which I am) but I also want to be able to actually snog him and tell him how I feel instead of fantasizing about it and letting the unhappiness build until it makes me want to either yell out to him that I fancy him, or cry.

While I had a mini-meltdown, Teddy seemed to have found nothing wrong with his wording and had continued on with our conversation, by himself.

"So what are you most excited about for your birthday party? What do you have planned?" he asked me.

I racked my brain for the first thing I could think of that I wanted to do at my party that didn't involve him. Quite a challenge really.

This is what I ended up saying, "I can't wait to get Xavier Wood drunk."

Yeah. That really didn't come out like I'd planned . . . I didn't mean to say that . . . okay, maybe I did, but it's not actually what it sounds like.

If Teddy felt threatened –which a part of me really wished he would- at what I said, his laughter really covered it, "If I didn't know you so well I'd say that you want to get Xavier Wood drunk so that you could take advantage of him."

I rolled my eyes. Nothing could turn me off more than the idea of . . . being with Xavier Wood in any type of romantic capacity, "I would hit you for that, but you seem to be my ride back to the Burrow."

Look at that! Smart remark number three today! Alright, it seems that I can talk with him when my mind is focusing on something other than how the toned muscles in his shirt shift with his slightest movement . . . crap. Think Victoire, the opposite of gorgeous Teddy. What's the opposite . . .

"And if I'm not going to hit you, I'll just add to the tally of why I should. You know very well that Xavier and I are just friends. Besides, it would be hard to take advantage of him if we were trying to strangle each other. It would be rather unromantic," I continued. My voice started out sounding a little forced, but I think I got the hang of sounding normal by the end.

"You do have a point there. Anyway, if a sober Xavier Wood doesn't know what to do with a pretty girl than I doubt a totally sloshed one would."

"Aw, did you just call me pretty?" I asked swallowing thickly. Aside from the escalation in my heart rate it sounded like something that normal 'flirty' Victoire would ask normal Teddy before she realized how much she fancied him.

"Can I get back to you on that after I get a bit of alcohol into my system?" Teddy asked me jokingly. I knew that he was joking because I'm part-Veela for Merlin's sake and even people who hate me think that I'm pretty.

Despite my assurances in my killer genetics (thank-you Mamma) I really wanted a serious answer from him. While I figured out how I could acquire one without sounding like a freak, I lightly kicked him in the stomach where my ankles were crossed around each other because he was still giving me the piggyback ride.

He laughed again, "You know that I'm kidding Vic. You are an amazingly talented young witch and the only thing that is more attractive than your outward appearance is your personality."

And cue my brain turning to mush again. Bugger it! He makes it so hard to try not to fall even more obsessively in love with him when he says stuff like that.

Since I had to respond or seem like an idiot, I somehow choked out, "You're alright."

In reality, he was much more than alright. However, if I actually paid him a compliment, he would find it odd, and probably would realize that something was wrong with me. Not to mention if I started complimenting him I probably wouldn't be able to stop at one or two and he'd definitely realize by the time I got to telling him how I love it when he runs his hands through his hair anytime he's frustrated that I fancy him, a lot.

Teddy didn't laugh at my comment like I thought he would. He went really quite instead. I was exactly seven point six seconds away from telling him that I was joking and that he was the handsomest most gorgeous guy that I'd even met and that if he didn't believe me that I had a massive crush on him to prove it. . . but I didn't have too.

Right when I was getting ready to spill my guts he stopped walking. Dropped me gently from his back and took a step away from me. I opened my mouth to apologize for hurting his feelings –which I had assumed I did because he'd stopped carrying me- when he turned around and the look on his face stopped me from speaking.

He took a few steps back towards me, but I didn't want to be closer to him anymore, I even ended up taking a few steps back. He continued to walk towards me, and I continued to step back until I was stopped by something large and solid. The scratch of bark on the upper part of my arm told me that I'd just backed myself into a tree. Or, more correctly, Teddy had caused me to back into a tree. And, he was still walking towards me. He came so close that our bodies were only actually a few inches away from touching each other's when he stopped. My mind was in so much chaos that I wasn't sure if I was happy that he'd stopped so that he wasn't actually touching me, or if I was sad that he'd stopped because now he actually wasn't touching me.

Thankfully, whatever Teddy's reasons were for backing me into a tree and invading my personal space too-much/not-enough didn't seem to include trying to get me to speak, because he'd started with a trail of rhetoric questions.

"I'm alright am I?" he asked. He obviously didn't need me to answer because I doubt if I'd been able to say anything that it would have changed his train of thought, but I did nod at him.

"So you're saying that I could be better?"

Looks-wise . . . no, you're freaking gorgeous. Overall? Yeah, you could be better if you stopped talking and just kissed me so that this one-sided tension could disperse.

Evidently, I nodded again.

"Well then Miss Part-Veela, what would you suggest would make me more attractive?" He asked his sapphire blue eyes twinkling with mischief.

I was lost in his eyes so I blurted out the first thing that I could think of, "If you had a girlfriend." More specifically if _I_ was your girlfriend. Actually, only if I was your girlfriend because if you go out and start a relationship with some other bint I'm sure that my heart would break.

The laughter died out of his eyes and the blue orbs were now filled with an unreadable yet still intense emotion. He stared into my blue eyes and I stared back. It wasn't in a lovey-dovey way, but it still made my stomach flip and churn.

"So, you think I need a girlfriend?" He asked me in a whisper. I hadn't realized it until now but our faces had gotten much closer to each other's over the progression of our talk. His lips were so close to mine that once I spotted them they became the focal point of my attention.

I licked my own lips as I looked at his, "Yep."

"Okay then . . . have any suggestions on who?" his soft-looking lips asked.

"Ugh . . ." I racked my brain for a reply that didn't involve me shouting out my own name and then pressing my lips against his, "I'm sure that Dom would take you."

And if I ever doubted it before, it is official.

Mentioning that your fifteen year-old-sister has a –joke- crush on the guy that you're trying _not _to jump and the snog senseless will always break the tension you feel. No matter how one-sided it is.

The corners of Teddy's lips curled and he took a full step back away from me. I missed his proximity but realized that it was probably for the best that he put some space between us.

"I think that there might be a little too much of an age gap there Vic. I am nineteen after all," he said most likely in an attempt to change the charged atmosphere, "Besides; she's underage; that would be rather awkward."

I bristled a little at his comment on age difference. I didn't think that the two years between us would be a big deal, but I do know some people who think that two years is a big deal. Also, I might have momentarily forgotten that as of today, I'm no longer underage. So, that comment kind of made me depressed too.

"What would you consider an okay age difference then? Obviously someone older wouldn't be a problem. How much younger would you go?"

He seemed a little surprised at my heated question but he answered me nonetheless, "I can't really go much past the age of seventeen or I would seem like a cradle robber wouldn't I? Maybe when I get older the age difference can grow, but as of now two years younger is as far as I'll go. I wouldn't be able to even think of a girl under the age of seventeen seriously without seeming like a creep."

I tried not to scream in frustration as I heard him. I only turned seventeen today. If he was telling the truth then there's no way that he would have even considered feeling about me in a romantic way before today. And he couldn't really well decide that he fancied me after a few hours of walking through the woods today, most of the time I was acting like an idiot during our walk anyway. It's official, my feelings are completely one-sided and I won't even have a chance to change his mind before I have to go off to Hogwarts in September. I'm going to have to deal with this stupid secret crush for at least the next year. And during that time, if he wasn't considering getting a new girlfriend before he is now, thanks to me.

Great job Victoire. You're top of your year but you're obviously stupid enough to convince the guy that you fancy that he needs to get a girlfriend who's older and more mature than you.

He mustn't have liked our conversation either because he looked down at his watch and sighed. I could tell that the time of day was all of a sudden a stressful thing to him because his hands moved up to his head and he ruffled his own turquoise blue hair. And, because I'm such a masochist, I couldn't help but wish that I could be the one to flatten his hair down after he ruffled it up like that. Godric Vic! Get it through your head; he doesn't like you that way!

He looked back at me and it seemed like he was able to change his expression like a switch. He was smiling at me and he said, "I should probably get you back to the Burrow before your grandparents decide to send out a search party."

"Sure," I answered back quietly. He moved so that I could get onto his back again and I couldn't help but smile. He was so cute; keeping his promise to carry me even though he was probably a little angry with me.

We travelled a bit more of a distance before Teddy tried to start another conversation. He was really chatty today, "So is there anything special that you want to make sure you get done this year? Any big plans now that you're of age besides legally drinking and legally _apparating_?"

I swallowed again. Yeah, there were some things that I wanted to do now that I was of age, but it seemed like what I wanted didn't want me. Or at least not in the same way I wanted it. I decided not to answer verbally. I placed my head on his shoulder and shook my head.

He could tell by the vibrations what message I was trying to pass along, "What about what you said to me? Do you think that you should get a boyfriend?"

I sighed, I should have known that I'd open myself up for this type of conversation, "Getting a bloke to want to take me out on dates and to snog me isn't as easy as it sounds."

Teddy huffed, "Well that's because you don't want a guy who just wants to take you out on dates and snog you. You should want a guy that will listen to everything you say, someone who will be your shoulder to cry on, and someone who would risk Xavier Wood's wrath to try to get you to skive off Quidditch practice so that you could spend time with him."

I couldn't help but smile into his neck as he painted the picture in my mind. Of course, in my mind it wasn't some faceless bloke doing all of that for me. It was him.

"Why would it be Xavier's Wood wrath that I would face if I skived off Quidditch practice, I am the Captain after all."

"Fair point."

"And where do you think that I could find a bloke like this?"

"Hmmm," he was taking my question seriously because he seemed to be deep in thought, "You're right. My giving you all of those criteria is a lot to remember. I guess you should just look for a bloke that's like me. That way I know he'll treat you right."

My heart broke again.

I don't want a bloke _like_ him.

I want _him_.

And, call me spoiled, but I always get what I want.

I decided in that moment that I was going to do something. I wasn't going to cry over the fact that Teddy didn't like me in that way anymore. I was going to do something about it. I might only have just short of three months, but I'm going to do my best to make Teddy Lupin fall as in love with me as I am with him by the time this summer's over.

While I made my plan, Teddy began talking about something else. I was only half listening to him, but my attention was caught when he mentioned something silly that one of his fellow Aurors-in-training had done while they were in training a few days ago. As the story continued I actually began to laugh and to enjoy myself.

The minute I was able to push aside my inner worry at doing something that would make myself seem stupid in Teddy's mind –I was determined to win him over now and somehow that resulted in me feeling less self-conscious- I was finally able to enjoy spending time with him. This was one of the things I loved about him, about how our friendship was. Usually we can just talk about anything but we can still capture the other's attention.

I was in the middle of a particularly loud giggle, when I'd realized that we'd left the forest. I hadn't realized that he was still moving as he carried me because he had actually been looking back at me as he got to the climax of his story. He was laughing too and I was looking into his eyes but it wasn't in an awkward and intense way like we had before.

My attention was dragged away from his face when I heard a loud chorus of voices yell, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY VICTOIRE!"

My face was stunned and I my gaze was stuck on the scene in front of me. I felt Teddy somehow gently set me down and remove my arms and legs from around his body before stepping away. I was still looking at the area in front of us.

My entire family –meaning my immediate family, my grandparents, and all of my dad's brothers, sister, and their families- were in the backyard of the Burrow. Around them was a table set up with food for what I realized was a birthday dinner, along with a table full of presents, and a gigantic cake.

It was a very _surprising_ birthday party. The look on my face must have been rather humorous because I could hear Teddy laughing from somewhere off to the side.

I looked at him and my blue eyes narrowed, "You knew about this didn't you? Was this why you made me walk so fricken far when I wanted to turn back? You knew that they needed time to set this up?"

Teddy looked like he was about to bust a gut from how hard he was laughing, "Yup. Merlin the look on your face a few seconds ago was worth the abuse I had to put up with though to get you to come along. Seriously, it was priceless."

I wanted to be angry with him for keeping secrets from me but I couldn't. He looked way too fricken adorable as he laughed, even though it was at my own expense.

Directly after my 'light bulb' moment about the surprise party, I was handed around from family member to family member as I got my birthday hugs, kisses, and a series of suspicious pats on the back from my younger cousins James and Freddie. As I was passed around I saw Teddy walk over to where my dad was standing with my Uncle Charlie and with my godfather Kingsley. My dad ended up throwing his arm over Teddy's shoulder, Uncle Charlie patted him on the back, and I'm pretty sure that Kingsley was complimenting him on keeping me fully distracted and completely clueless.

I smiled to myself as I watched them interact. If I have it my way, the next time we all came together for a family event, Teddy will be squirming under their scrutinizing gazes instead of acting all chummy with them. I'm going to make Teddy mine. And after I do, he's not going to feel as comfortable with laughing and smiling with my father, my godfather, and my uncles at my expense.

Ha, who am I kidding, they're still going to treat Teddy the way that they always have, even when we're dating.

When.

Because, I am determined to make Teddy mine before the summer is out, and trust me, when I try that oblivious boy is _not_ going to know what hit him.

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**Okay! So I hope that you all liked it!**

**Review please and tell me what you think :)**

**DFTBA everyone! :)**


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